Apple Inc.

Silicon Light Machines Corporation

Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Google Inc.

Omar Sze Leung

David T Amm

Brian Michael King

Jeffrey Traer Bernstein

Duncan Robert Kerr

Avi Elias Cieplinski

Andrea Mucignat

Paul Puskarich

Marc J Piche

Praveen R Subramani

Muhammad Umar Choudry

Aleksandar Pance

Steven Porter Hotelling

Michael Devyver

Robert W Schlub

Ruben Caballero

Yi Jiang

Enrique Ayala Vazquez

Jonah Alexander Harley

Qingxiang Li

Rodney Andres Gomez Angulo

Alexander P Payne

Serkan Hatipoglu

Tang Yew Tan

Richard Hung Minh Dinh

David A Pakula

Erik G De Jong

Brian Quentin Huppi

Leo Benedict Baldwin

Brett C Bilbrey

Sawyer Isaac Cohen

Brian Richards Land

Peter W Richards

Storrs Townsend Hoen

Martin Paul Grunthaner

Ian A Spraggs

Peter Henry Mahowald

Steven James Martisauskas

Lee E Hooton

Amit Singh Chhetri

James A Hunter

Dhaval N Shah

Kenneth Lawrence Staton

Noam Sorek

Christopher Tenzin Mullens

Miguel C Christophy

Christopher J Butler

Mushtaq A Sarwar

Andrew P Richardson

Vivek Katiyar

Ming L Sartee

Deniz Teoman

Reese T Cutler

David William Devries

Rui Qiao

John T Orchard

Brett W Degner

Steve Porter Hotelling

Robert Arthur Sprague

Keith J Hendren

Patrick Kessler

Matthew Emanuel Last

John M Brock

Debanjan Mukherjee

Carl Philip Taussig

Christopher C Jones

Thomas W Wilson, Jr

Craig C Leong

Christopher S Gudeman

Peteris K Augenbergs

Nicholas Alan Rundle

David I Simon

Ming Zheng

Eric Gifford Marason

John Edwin Johnston

Ravi Ichapurapu

James J Niu

Brian David Fisher

Jerry Weiming Kuo

Akira Tomita

Firas Sammoura

Lakshman Rathnam

Jung Sik Yang

Dhaval Chandrakant Patel

Adam Barry Fineberg

Miguel Virgen

Michael J Dueweke

Sameet Ramakrishnan

Albert John Yu Sam Chua

Mudit Sunilkumar Khasgiwala

Christopher Lorenzo Dunn

Suchit Shah

Wilhelmus Adrianus De Groot

Josef Berger

Brad Lee Patton

Chris Gudeman

Marc Randall Whitten

Michael Risley

Evan Fletcher Dougal

Harold A Zarem

An input device is operable to detect input. The input device is a deflection based capacitive sensing input device. Deflection of a metal frame of the input device causes a change in capacitance that is used to control a function of an electrical device. The input device appears invisible because it is made of the same material as the housing it is contained in. Invisible backlit holes may make the input selectively visible or invisible to the user.

Disappearing button or slider

This disclosure describes methods, apparatuses, and techniques for capturing a fingerprint image using an electronic device with an under-display fingerprint sensor (UDFPS) embedded under a display screen of a display system. The display system utilizes a pulse-width modulation circuit to generate a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal to control light emitted by the display screen. As the display screen illuminates a user's touch, the UDFPS captures light reflected off the user's touch, therefore, capturing the fingerprint image. The captured fingerprint image, however, includes a PWM noise. The electronic device uses a noise-filtering algorithm to filter out and/or reduce the PWM noise in the captured fingerprint image. In one aspect, the noise-filtering algorithm estimates and/or determines the PWM noise in the captured fingerprint image. The noise-filtering algorithm then reduces, extracts, and/or filters out the PWM noise from the captured fingerprint image.

Filtering pulse-width modulated (PWM) noise from a fingerprint image captured with an optical under-display fingerprint sensor (UDFPS)

A device configured to determine the location and magnitude of a touch on a surface of the device. The device includes a transparent touch sensor that is configured to detect a location of a touch on the transparent touch sensor. The device also includes a force-sensing structure disposed at the periphery of the transparent touch sensor. The force sensor includes an upper capacitive plate and a compressible element disposed on one side of the upper capacitive plate. The force sensor also includes a lower capacitive plate disposed on a side of the compressible element that is opposite the upper capacitive plate.

Force determination based on capacitive sensing

A robotic assistant comprises a plurality of sensors in a compact and unobtrusive form. One or more sensors may be emplaced upon a mast that may be selectively raised and lowered. The mast allows the robotic assistant to acquire images or other sensor data from a greater height, without substantially increasing the bulk of the robotic assistant. For ease of transport from one floor to another or from one building to another, the robotic assistant may deploy a handhold that a human may use to pick up and carry the robotic assistant. Floor characterization sensors may be used to determine characteristics of the floor such as if the floor is wet or dry. The robotic assistant may be used to provide a user with access to network services, to monitor a facility, provide telepresence services, and so forth.

Robotic assistant

This disclosure describes, in part, techniques for controlling network applications. For instance, a remote system may send, over a network, data representing a state of an application to a display device, such as a television. The remote system may then receive, over the network, input data from a control device. The input data may represent one or more inputs received by the control device. Using the input data, the remote system may update the state of the application. The remote system may then send, to the display device, data representing the updated state of the application. In some instances, the remote system may further send, to the control device, audio data representing sound corresponding to the updated state of the application. The control device may synchronize outputting of the sound with the displaying the updated state of the application by the display device.

Systems and devices for controlling network applications

A haptic electromagnetic actuator for track pad is provided. The actuator includes an array of electromagnets with alternating South and North poles on a first end, each magnet comprising a metal core and an electrical wire around the metal core. The array of magnets is coupled to a base plate on a second end opposite to the first end. The actuator also includes an attraction plate at a distance from the first end of the array of the magnets such that the attraction plate moves toward the magnets when an electrical current flows through the electrical wire around the metal core and moves away from the magnets when the current becomes zero. The array of magnets is configured to form a uniform gap from the attraction plate.

Haptic electromagnetic actuator

A decision engine executing on an electronic device may determine, using sensor data captured by multiple sensors of the device, whether a user is present in an environment that includes the device. If the user is determined to be present in the environment, the device may transition from a first state to a second state. The first state may be a first power state of the device in which the device is powered off or an idle or dormant state in which the device is powered on but a display of the device is powered off. Correspondingly, the second state may be a second power state of the device in which the device and the display are powered on and content is being rendered on the display. If the decision engine cannot make a determination based on the sensor data, a context engine may adjudicate the user presence determination.

Determining a device state based on user presence detection

The present disclosure addresses methods and apparatus facilitating capacitive sensing using a conductive surface, and facilitating the sensing of proximity to the conductive surface. The sensed proximity will often be that of a user, but can be another source of a reference voltage potential. In some examples, the described systems are capable of sensing capacitance (including parasitic capacitance) in a circuit that includes the outer conductive surface, and where that outer conductive surface is at a floating electrical potential. In some systems, the systems can be switched between two operating modes, a first mode in which the system will sense proximity to the conductive surface, and a second mode in which the system will use a capacitance measurement to sense contact with the conductive surface.

Methods and apparatus for capacitive sensing

Ground detection of a touch sensitive device is disclosed. The device can detect its grounded state so that poor grounding can be selectively compensated for in touch signals outputted by the device. The device can include one or more components to monitor certain conditions of the device. The device can analyze the monitored conditions to determine the grounding condition of the device. The device can apply a function to compensate its touch signal outputs if the device determines that it is poorly grounded. Conversely, the device can omit the function if the device determines that it is well grounded.

Ground detection for touch sensitive device

Touch and hover switching is disclosed. A touch and hover sensing device can switch between a touch mode and a hover mode. During a touch mode, the device can be switched to sense one or more objects touching the device. During a hover mode, the device can be switched to sense one or more objects hovering over the device. The device can include a panel having multiple sensors for sensing a touching object and/or a hovering object and a touch and hover control system for switching the device between the touch and hover modes. The device's touch and hover control system can include a touch sensing circuit for coupling to the sensors to measure a capacitance indicative of a touching object during the touch mode, a hover sensing circuit for coupling to the sensors to measure a capacitance indicative of a hovering object during the hover mode, and a switching mechanism for switching the sensors to couple to either the touch sensing circuit or the hover sensing circuit. The device can switch modes based on a condition of the device, such as an expiration of a timer or a relative distance of an object from the panel.

Touch and hover switching

Improved capacitive touch and hover sensing with a sensor array is provided. An AC ground shield positioned behind the sensor array and stimulated with signals of the same waveform as the signals driving the sensor array may concentrate the electric field extending from the sensor array and enhance hover sensing capability. The hover position and/or height of an object that is nearby, but not directly above, a touch surface of the sensor array, e.g., in the border area at the end of a touch screen, may be determined using capacitive measurements of sensors near the end of the sensor array by fitting the measurements to a model. Other improvements relate to the joint operation of touch and hover sensing, such as determining when and how to perform touch sensing, hover sensing, both touch and hover sensing, or neither.

Touch and hover sensing

Detecting a signal from a touch and hover sensing device, in which the signal can be indicative of concurrent touch events and/or hover events, is disclosed. A touch event can indicate an object touching the device. A hover event can indicate an object hovering over the device. The touch and hover sensing device can ensure that a desired hover event is not masked by an incidental touch event, e.g., a hand holding the device, by compensating for the touch event in the detected signal that represents both events. Conversely, when both a hover event and a touch event are desired, the touch and hover sensing device can ensure that both events are detected by adjusting the device sensors and/or the detected signal. The touch and hover sensing device can also detect concurrent hover events by identifying multiple peaks in the detected signal, each peak corresponding to a position of a hovering object.

Concurrent signal detection for touch and hover sensing

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Omar Sze Leung